Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Female Genital Mutilation: Prosecutions

Thursday 13 February 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Female genital mutilation is a complex criminal offence difficult to prosecute.
  • Nottingham is the first community in the country to declare itself a zero-tolerance area for FGM.
  • The Government has allocated 85 million to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Alex Norris Labour (Co-op) Nottingham North
Justice & Courts Women & Equalities
Context

In Nottingham, the community has declared itself a zero-tolerance area for FGM and is working to combat this issue. However, local efforts alone are insufficient.

Question

I am grateful to the Minister for that answer. In Nottingham, we are really proud to be the first community in the country to declare ourselves a zero-tolerance area for FGM, but we cannot do this alone. We need other parts of the system to work, too, so can the Minister assure me and the campaigners in my community that the Crown Prosecution Service is adequately resourced to do all the good things that he has just described and that it is focused on doing them as a priority?

Answer from Michael Ellis (Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims)

I commend the hon. Gentleman and the city of Nottingham for what they are doing in this area. I have been told that piloting and trialling are taking place in some Nottingham schools. The CPS is working very hard to fight the scourge of female genital mutilation. We have lead FGM prosecutors in each CPS area, and there is a stakeholder group for so-called honour-based abuse and forced marriage, as well as FGM. That met twice in 2019, and it is already helping to improve investigation and prosecution performance.

Answered
Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Get updates like this by email
Q2 Carolyn Harris Lab Swansea East
Crime & Law Enforcement Women & Equalities
Context

The lack of services to support victims is a concern, and there are questions about the impact of budget cuts on reporting.

Question

The lack of services to support the victims of female genital mutilation is often seen as a reason why so many cases are left unreported. What effect does the Attorney General—whoever that might be—think the cuts to the Crown Prosecution Service have had on the reporting of FGM cases?

Answer from Michael Ellis (Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims)

I am pleased to say that £85 million has just been allocated by this Government to the Crown Prosecution Service. That enormous sum has been very well received. The reality is that FGM is a complex criminal offence. It is difficult to prosecute, but when these matters are made the subject of a complaint, every effort is made to gold-standard the process to make proceeding as easy as possible. I say again that the joint police-CPS taskforce—the stakeholder group—was established in order to make progress across this range of areas, including pre-prosecution.

Answered
Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Get updates like this by email